Marker coming to Pottsville to salute jazz great after fellow city native's discovery in New Orleans

Sep. 16—A new state historical marker honoring Allan Jaffe could soon join five others in the city.

The marker, the first to come to the city in 17 years, will pay homage to the Pottsville native's impact on music nationwide.

Jaffe established Preservation Hall in New Orleans, played sousaphone in the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and aided in the revival of traditional New Orleans jazz.

The familiar blue sign will take root at 316 N. Centre St., once known as Jaffe's Wallpaper and Paint Store, owned by Allan's father, Harry Jaffe. Arrow Studio & Events currently occupies the building at that address, and for decades it was Nathan's furniture store.

Joseph Stolarick, a Pottsville native now living in Pine Grove, submitted the historical marker application after moving to New Orleans in 2012 and realizing Allan Jaffe's connection to the city. He called the former wallpaper and paint store a "fitting location," noting that he picked it after consulting with Allan Jaffe's sister, Rhoda Abeshaus.

"It's not the location most people associated with the shop because it moved quite a few times, but this is where Allan spent the first 10 years of his life," Stolarick said. "Looking into the research, I think Allan's father and the way he ran his business played a formative role in Allan's journey, and sort of how he conducted business in New Orleans."

Calling the "passion project" a "long, rewarding process," Stolarick said he's excited to see the final product. His research started in 2019, leading to the application that received approval in December.

Of 91 applications, 37 markers were approved in 2022 — "the highest (number of markers) that have ever been approved in the program's history," according to Alli Davis, historical marker coordinator for the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission.

That has the manufacturer of the signs attempting to balance a combination of back orders from the pandemic and a record number of approved markers, but Stolarick said the marker's production has been finished.

Jaffe died of cancer in New Orleans on March 9, 1987.

Celebrate with festival

Mayor Dave Clews — a self-proclaimed jazz fan — said he plans to hold a jazz fest in the city, possibly in the spring, in conjunction with the marker dedication rather than a traditional ceremony. He said he got the idea after going to the unveiling of Muhammed Ali's historical marker, with former boxers and trainers in attendance, which Clews said "added to that environment."

"Instead of having family, friends, city officials and pull the curtain and say 'ta-da' and 'kind words, kind words,' why not celebrate jazz music?" Clews said. "Let's bring some jazz musicians in and share that to its fullest, not just 'here's his history, here's what he did, here's what he's responsible for.' "

Abeshaus, who said she's "very proud" of her brother, is thrilled for the marker to touch down in Pottsville.

"There's never been anything in Pottsville to honor my brother, and he was known around the world," said Abeshaus, who now resides in Flagstaff, Arizona. "I mean, he was just everywhere and he was just known everywhere."

She noted how a group from Japan sent Allan Jaffe 100 paper cranes when he was sick, as a symbol of life. On another occasion, she said, he received a plaque for bringing his band to Israel.

Since their departure from the city, Abeshaus said the extended Jaffe family doesn't tend to get together much, but an event like the dedication would draw family from various regions of the country.

"My feelings? I'm gonna be as proud as I can be," she said. "This is really something. We're very excited about it."

Stolarick is, too.

He hopes to bring a "lasting acknowledgment" to Jaffe's contribution to the city and American music, saying he thinks the musician's connection to Pottsville "flies under the radar," which, as Davis said, is the very concept behind the historical marker program.

"The majority of markers that have been erected since the '90s have been submitted by the general public," she said. "So these are things that Pennsylvanians themselves are passionate about, that they want to share this knowledge with everybody around them. So they're really about a sense of pride and community and history."

Over the years

Since 1982, the city has welcomed five historical markers, all of which are roughly under a 20-minute walk from one another.

The first, the Schuylkill County historical marker, was dedicated in 1982, notating its homage to the Schuylkill River. It represents the physical cultivation of the county, formed in 1811, out of Northampton and Berks counties, with parts of Columbia and Luzerne counties joining in seven years later.

Standing on the southeast corner of Laurel Boulevard and North Second Street, that marker acknowledges the county as the "center of the anthracite coal industry."

Less than a month later, the John O'Hara marker was dedicated at 606 Mahantongo St. to honor the Pottsville native as "one of America's best-known novelists and short-story writers." The marker was the first permanent recognition of O'Hara erected in the city, other than the naming of a street in his honor.

After leaving Pottsville, O'Hara worked for a number of major publications, including the New York Herald Tribune, Time, Editor and Publisher, the New York Daily Mirror and Morning Telegraph, The New Yorker and the Pittsburgh Bulletin-Index.

His first book, "Appointment in Samarra," was published in August 1934.

In all, O'Hara authored 31 books, many of them best-sellers, during his 37 years as a serious writer.

Burd Patterson's historical marker was dedicated in 1996, citing his importance in the anthracite region. Patterson developed the slope method for mining below the water table and was the first successful smelter of anthracite iron. His marker can be found at 803 Mahantongo St.

The marker notes the house itself, built between 1830-35 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, as the first of the coal-baron mansions that now line Mahantongo Street. The house is a 6-bedroom, 8-fireplace, Federal-style mansion with a tarracotta wine cellar and encompassing wooden porch.

Three years later, the Pottsville Maroons marker was dedicated to the former National Football League team at 305 N. Centre St. It stands in front of the former Female Grammer School, home to the Schuylkill County Historical Society.

At the time of the dedication, Nicholas A. Barbetta, general chairman of the Maroons Memorial Committee, said he got the idea for the marker in 1997 when he saw one erected in Philadelphia in honor of Bert Bell, who was the NFL Commissioner. He shared the idea with state Rep. Bob Allen, who went to work to see it happen.

Another seven years later, the Molly Maguire Executions marker was dedicated on Sanderson Street in front of the Schuylkill County Prison. It represents the Irish mine workers known as Molly Maguires, believed to be part of a secret society, who were hanged.

There are 51 other points of interest and murals scattered throughout the city, according to the Pottsville Commission on Tourism walking tour guide.

As Davis said, the markers are intended to "reflect the interest of the common Pennsylvania citizens," and bring about a sense of community through remembering local history.

Contact the writer: mchristman@republicanherald.com; 570-628-6028.